Below are a few of the education stories we’ve bookmarked recently.
'Teachers Cannot Be Silent': How Educators Are Showing Up for Black Students Following Protests
With protests erupting throughout the nation, teachers are tackling tough conversations with their students about race and racism. Education Week’s Madeline Will interviews teachers, who are helping out their students in a variety of ways. "Teachers cannot be silent during this time…Teachers have to take a stand. Students are absorbing this, [and] they’re going to ask themselves later on in life or even now, ‘What was my teacher doing during this time?” says Detroit Achievement Academy teacher, Patrick Harris.
The Systemic Challenges in K12 Education During These Times of Social Unrest
Gholdy Muhammed, author of Cultivating Genius, with Ivelisse Ramos-Brannon, a NYC Advanced Placement teacher, joins Education Talk Radio’s Larry Jacobs to discuss the Pre K – 12 education system amidst today’s current social unrest. During the conversation, they cover the need for educators to develop students’ social-political consciousness, so that they are not contributors of oppression, but rather they are able to become disruptors and social change agents against racial oppression within their communities, in addition to cultivating classroom practices that provide safe spaces for students to talk about social justice issues.
A Positive Classroom Climate, Even from a Distance
Teaching lives changed substantially as schools closed and moved to online and distance learning formats. Nancy Frey, Dominque Smith, and Douglas Fisher examine just how important it is for educators to keep providing students with a positive climate to exist and learn within. “The positive climate of the classroom and school fuels student learning…In fact, whole-school efforts to positively affect school climate have promising results on student learning and achievement,” the article states. Although many of the in-person rituals educators have relied on in the past are now virtually impossible, teachers can continue supporting and fostering a positive climate so their students can thrive.
The ‘Unsung Heroes’ Keeping Students and Families Fed During School Closures
Nearly 30 million children across the United States rely on their schools to provide them with discounted or free meals, so when schools closed their doors due to the pandemic, many children were faced with a new problem—hunger. EdSurge explores how some school districts were able to tackle this issue and develop food service plans in a matter of days, as well as how the role of food service is largely important to learning. As Emily Tate reports, the role of food service should not be understated. “It’s hard for students to focus on academics—or really anything else—if they’re hungry. And research shows that children who eat nutritious meals, especially breakfast, are more available to learning and cognitive development.”
Seven strategies for supporting student learning in a remote environment
As we have come to see in the past couple of months, COVID-19 has drastically upended the traditional modes of school and has made remote learning a reality for many students and teachers. On ASCD InService, Jay McTighe and Dr. Giselle Martin-Kniep explore how the learn-at-home circumstances most students and educators find themselves in right now can offer more engaging and meaningful learning experiences. They also offer seven strategies for planning and conducting remote learning, which will help challenge students and promote the development of their learning agency.
